Duncan is a practicing architect, academic, and activist who has been a leading figure in design and circular innovation for more than 25 years.

The author of ‘The Re-Use Atlas: a designer’s guide towards a circular economy’ published by RIBA, Duncan envisions a world where waste is a resource and design fosters social, economic, and environmental change.

Co-chair of the RIBA’s Climate Action Expert Advisory Group and sustainability champion for the proposed £60m retrofit of the institute’s 66 Portland Place headquarters in London, Duncan delivered the keynote speech at the 2019 AJ100 Awards, helping to inspire the AJ RetroFirst campaign. In 2021, he founded BakerBrown, a research-led architectural practice and consultancy, created to address the huge demands and opportunities presented by the climate and ecological emergency.

Over the years, Duncan’s practices (and academic ‘live’ projects) have won numerous accolades including RIBA National Awards and a special award from The Stephen Lawrence Prize for the Brighton Waste House - Europe’s first permanent building made from over 55 tonnes of material other people threw away. The prize money has since been used to set up a student prize for circular, closed loop design at the University of Brighton where Duncan is Climate Literacy Champion and Course Leader for the M.Arch Architecture programme at the School of Architecture, Engineering and Technology.